Potato Gnocchi with Garlic Butter

This happened over the summer. Amidst our crusade to find foods that could easily be frozen and stored that could later be reheated without any changes to the taste and such (we call this grad school training), I stumbled across a recipe for gnocchi (allrecipes). :] My fondest gnocchi memories include the crazy carb-loading I did the evening before my half-marathon and the amazing Italian restaurant in Walnut Creek with the best tiramisu in the world. They keep you really, really full. So I decided to embark on this endeavor with Sylvia. (Mekala was apartment-hunting across the country.)

To preface, on our last cooking endeavor, we barely made enough to feed ourselves, let alone our families. So this time, we decided to make sure we’d definitely have enough. After all, it’s gnocchi. What could possibly go wrong?

And…this is how our 7-lb. gnocchi adventure came into being. I kid you not, we quintupled this recipe, and it called for a hell of a lot more flour than the recipe stated, so I adjusted it.

Instructions:
1) Cook potatoes until tender and mash until smooth. Clean potatoes and score 1/8 inch deep around the entire potato. Boil potatoes for 20-30 minutes (depending on size of potato) until paring knife can easily be inserted into the fattest part.
2) Take potatoes out of the boiling water, cool, and when you’re able to handle them, slip the skins off.
3) Whisk and add one medium-sized egg to each bowl of mashed potatoes. Add seasonings and stir until just combined.
4) Add 1/3 cup flour and knead with hands until just combined. If dough is too sticky, add a little flour. (You’ll be able to add more flour when you roll the gnocchi out, so it’s better to incorporate less now, than too much.)
5) Add 1/4 cup of flour at a time, until barely sticky. Generously flour a clean, dry surface and knead the dough a couple times until it has come together in a ball. Cut the dough ball into quarters and roll each quarter into a long rope until it’s the width of your index finger.
6) Using a floured knife, cut the rope into 1 inch sections. Hold a fork, curved side up with one hand and with the thumb of your other hand, gently roll the dough from the top of the curve, to the bottom, keeping your thumb in contact with the dough the whole time.
7) Continue rolling your gnocchi until you’ve gone through the rest of the dough. If you don’t plan to eat your gnocchi right away, place them on a cookie sheet and into the freezer until hard, ~20 minutes. Transfer to freezer bag (can be stored for 4-6 months).

Instructions:
1) Bring large pot of water to boil. Season with salt and add gnocchi. Cook until gnocchi floats to the top. Gently drain.
2) In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until light brown (~30 seconds). Add gnocchi, salt, pepper, and saute until golden brown. Serve immediately.

We made a tomato sauce to add to the garlic butter, since the garlic butter didn’t have as much taste as we’d hoped. This adventure taught us many, many things (e.g. the fact that this takes effing forever and may not be feasible as a grad school food…but then again, maybe we shouldn’t have made so many).